Hotels enforcing minimum Check-in age?
 

I got a decent rate for a 5 star hotel in SF off of hotwire (~100) for labor day weekend.

My problem is that it warned me beforehand that the minimum check-in age is 21. I'm 19 and have never had any problems before (even when I was a minor).

So my question is, has anyone ever had trouble with hotels checking IDs and ages?

Some states have anti-age discrimination provisions oriented at just this.

For example, in Wisconsin denying a room based on age is illegal. After some politician's kid got stuck on the road and was denied a room despite having sufficient means to cover the room charges and standard deposit, things quickly changed. And the laws usually caught up with fairness.

Provide ID that doesn't have your age. :D

In all seriousness, if you hold your driver's license in a "holder" and present it such that you don't need to take it out, I doubt that they will look closely, especially if you present your credit card and a frequent guest card for that property (even if the card is not useful).

Which hotel are you talking about?

Its the Clift Hotel in SF--I was slightly disappointed after reading the reviews... my guess had been that I would have ended up with the Parc 55... but hopefully it won't turn out too bad.

I never really noticed if hotels ask for ID--I just whip it out to avoid the agony of spelling out and parsing my last name.

The only thing with the ID in the holder idea is that California likes to put a big purple strip right across the front saying "Age 21 in 2007," I suppose to make it easier for the liquor store clerks. OT, apparently in massachusetts they completely change the orientation of the license (i.e. vertical instead of horizontal) if the holder is a minor.

Passport in passportholder hanging around the neck? It'll have your age, but they usually check for name not for age.